The Justice Minister has been urged to explain the “apparent implosion” of
management at the Scottish Police Authority, 10 weeks after the country’s
new policing structure was launched.

Opposition parties said the departure of three senior officials suggested a “crisis of leadership” and proved that the SNP had rushed into the reform too quickly.

It emerged that Andrea Quinn, interim head of the authority, is not planning to apply for the role on a permanent basis, and a new temporary chief executive will now have to be appointed in her place.

The interim finance director Eamon Hegarty, is also leaving shortly, at the end of a six-month contract, while the interim planning and performance director, John Fox-Davies, will leave next month.

The departures come in the wake of “turf wars” between Stephen House, Chief Constable of Police Scotland, and Vic Emery, chairman of the SPA, over issues of control and governance, including which body has responsibility for issues such as finance, human resources, information technology and civilian staff.

A source suggested last night that the sudden departures were a direct result of the ongoing “teething troubles”.

Police Scotland was created through the merger of the country’s eight separate forces, while the SPA was set up to oversee policing and to hold the Chief Constable to account.

One retired high ranking police officer told The Daily Telegraph: “This is very worrying. These are very senior people with important roles in the new force who had all been expected to re-apply for their jobs when their interim appointments expired.

“Now they are all leaving. It is very important that we find out their reasons for so doing.”

Lewis Macdonald, Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman, said the sudden departures revealed a crisis in leadership, adding: “Since day one there has been a power struggle at the highest level between the SPA and Police Scotland that has distracted from the main priority which is to deliver an effective, cohesive police service.

“It’s worrying that there has been no indication of these resignations to the Scottish Parliament’s policing sub-committee and Kenny MacAskill (the Justice Minister) must explain as a matter of urgency why this apparent implosion of management has occurred.”

John Lamont, the Scottish Conservative chief whip, said the SNP rushed into the new arrangements and made appointments in a hurry, adding: “It’s no surprise seeing changes at the top, even at this early stage.

“It’s a bad start for a new organisation, and the taxpayer will hope to goodness that there’s not yet another expense as a result of these departures. A trio of people leaving right at the top hardly inspires confidence for the future.”

A spokesman for the SPA sought to play down the departures, saying the 13-member board was not affected. She said Ms Quinn, formerly head of environment at Edinburgh City Council, told the SPA of her decision in February.

She added: “Two further interim Executive members, whose contracts were due to end in the summer, will be departing in the near future.

“We will be recruiting for a new interim CEO to steer the organisation through to the agreement of a permanent structure for SPA and subsequent permanent appointments.”

George McIrvine, secretary of the union Unison for police staff in Scotland, said the departures were “unsettling” and suggested the changes had taken place “far too quickly”.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said staffing changes were a matter for the SPA.